


Piece by Piece

by Wardenov



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014), The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
Genre: Alternate Ending, BUT ONLY ONCE, Canon Divergent, Eventual Fluff, F/M, He's trying to fix things there, I like that, Second Chances, This all takes place back in Rex's time, Time Travel, Timeline Shenanigans, call life alert, i know it may seem weird w/ how i'm starting it off? but all i want is fluff, i think i saw someone call the ship dangerstyle?, mostly b/w rex and lucy bc i've fallen hard and i can't get up, no beta readers we die like men, not now but soon, obviously failing but, rex got some funky powers from being stuck in reality for so long, soonish, sparodic updates because i can't keep a schedule to save my life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2019-12-18 07:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18244784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wardenov/pseuds/Wardenov
Summary: Now back in his own timeline and wholly convinced that the only way to become someone both he and others can accept is to get rid of everything that made him -HIM-, Rex takes to enacting a secretive plan that requires gathering a whole lot of bricks. Unfortunately for him, this brings him face to face with some old friends that he'd much rather not run into again, especially when they're now in the brick gathering business themselves with their own agenda to rebuild Cloud Cuckoo Land.AKA - Rex tries to fix things back in his own timeline after resigning to let Emmet live out his happy ending back in Syspocalypstar - but in such a wrong, convoluted way that only he could come up with.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey man, I'm bad at writing but just wanted a super specific fix-it fic, is that really too much to ask for? 
> 
> Short prologue before getting to the actual story stuff, just to get the rust out of my gears -

It had been hours since Emmet had walked away from Undar with Lucy and still Rex stood – alone, in a weird state of bittersweet remorse. He hadn’t moved much, since pretending to have been “Back-to-the-Future’d”- a trick he had practiced during those long years, trapped in the Real World, in an effort to pass the mind-numbing time. It endlessly amused his raptors too, the vanishing trick – a bonus if anything to toying with the boundary between his world and the one upstairs. All in all, it was both a last-ditch attempt at underhandedly getting Emmet to consider watching one of his favorite movies and a coward’s way of escaping the awkward situation that had presented itself in the wake of his “defeat.”  

It’s funny - he thinks to himself - that he ended up here again after all was said and done. Back to where it had all started. The feelings of abandonment, anger… inadequacy, now complemented further by the crushing realization of just how wrong he was in his approach of dealing with them. But even with that, it still didn’t stop him from feeling so absolutely _hurt_. He really had wanted to reach out and grab Emmet’s hand back when his past self offered, but truly wanted nothing more than for it to have been his friends - his Lucy - that offered the hand instead three years ago. If they’d ever had shown up in the first place.

The sudden thumping of footsteps down the basement’s wooden stairs snapped Rex back to reality, watching as Bianca’s rainbow shoes blurred passed, kicking up the dust and lint that had settled down on the floor alongside him. The distant clicking of bricks sounded and they tore off again, back upstairs. It was something he was used to at this point, but it was none less jarring.  

Rex sighed, rolling his shoulders, and slowly filtered back into the familiar world of bricks and colorful space, grateful to move without the agonizing stiffness that came with The Man Upstairs’ reality. Begrudgingly, he set off for the cruiser he had left not too far off after first arriving to further antagonize Emmet, climbing in but hesitating for a while before kicking on the engine into a comforting roar.  

The fly back through space was surprisingly uneventful – he’d still half expected it to be swarming with makeshift spaceships, built in tandem by the Systarians and Apocalypseburg folk. He cringed slightly as he passed the scattered debris of the Rex-Wing Fighters he’d trained his raptors to pilot. The raptors, in all honesty, were the last of his worries at this point. Rex knew they were resourceful and clever and quite possibly well over-equipped with gadgets and knick-knacks Rex had prepared exactly for situations like this in off-chance they had gotten lost in space – not that he had ever predicted an incident like inciting the anger of two different systems and going to war, but more along the lines of that the raptors were too inclined to play chicken with the airlocks onboard the Rexcelsior when he wasn’t looking – but it didn’t stop him from keeping a watchful eye out just in case. He didn’t want to leave behind his friends.  

So, with that sentiment he was undeniably less than thrilled to learn from the other dinosaurs that Ripley, Connor, and The Other One were currently off in the heckish amalgamation of systems of what was now apparently dubbed Syspocalypstar. Whatever. _That’s fine._ If they were happy, he wouldn’t intrude. He wasn’t sure that he could.   
   
Slumped over in the ship’s pilot chair, Rex brooded – something of which would probably take up more time than convenient given the odd predicament he was in.    
  
He didn’t necessarily regret any of what he’d done earlier. How was he supposed to know things would turn out the way that they did? Predicting that his interference would change things in such a way that arguably this other version of himself got the better turn of events, even if it wasn’t what he had entirely anticipated. He’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t at least a little bit envious.

Ultimately, above all else, he was disappointed - disappointed with how things currently were and how it seemed like things continued to act against him, as if the universe itself wanted in on continuing to make everything even more awful. And beyond the sinking feeling of disappointment settling into his stomach was the stabbing pang of frustration – frustration at how badly executed the plan he had spent so long thinking over had been, frustration at his past self, and frustration at how it seemed -that the more he piled on to things to fume about- that everything that had ever gone wrong in this path that he’d set out upon, was his own fault.    
   
Rex groaned loudly, dragging a clawed hand down his face and sinking further into his seat. _Of course_ it was all his fault.    
   
Ha.  

As if he really thought changing a few pieces of himself would fix the one fundamental flaw at the root of everything – himself.  

Rex’s arm was suddenly nudged off the armrest it was laying against. He looked over, halfway ready to start a fight when he met the tentative stare of a raptor he quickly recognized as Rocky – and for the first time that afternoon, he laughed. Rocky let out a hearty bark in response, holding out a clawed fist that Rex eagerly met with a fist-bump.    
   
“You’re right, bud, it’s a stupid look on me. _Moping._ Ha!”

Rex hopped out of the chair with a renewed vigor, boots stomping onto the metal floor with a resounding thud – he turned heel and looked back over the main deck of the ship where most of his raptors had gathered in various states of curiosity. “Raptors!” he boomed, smacking his fist against the back of the chair and pointing out into the crowd, “change of plan. We’re gonna go back and we’re gonna do it right.”  
  
“To your past, again? Boss?” one asked, tilting it’s head.

The smug grin that had so easily found itself to him earlier had returned. “Nah. Let’s kick this thing into drive this time.”  
  
A few of the raptors let loose excited rumbles, running off into position. Without his remote it would be a bit harder to pinpoint an exact time to hop to, but it wasn’t anything a little effort and elbow grease wouldn’t solve. The Rexcelsior roared to life, illuminating with sharp neon blues and greens, the engines primed and ready to take off. “Ballpark it about three years from now – and hey!” Rex called out over his shoulder as he turned to look out at the stars, “try and aim for the original timeline.”

Rex would let this Emmet have his happily ever after. It was time he went to try and fix the one Emmet that he really cared about – and if that meant taking up a new angle, then so be it. He’d started attempting to change himself for the better, but he wasn’t done yet - he’d make sure the end result would be perfect - even if that meant starting over piece by piece.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unikitty proposes an idea that leads to an underwater adventure, however, unexpected complications arise when they're not the only ones with the same plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No BETAs we die like men

“You want to rebuild Cloud Cuckoo Land?”

“Yeah!” Unikitty burst out, stars in her eyes sparkling as she bounced around Queen Watevra. The Queen’s courtroom was brightly lit, shimmering as the Princess bounced around excitedly with the proposition. “It’ll be so great! Think of all the extra fun that we can have! I’ve missed it so _much_ and I know the Systarians never had the chance to see it so it’ll be super neat if we could give them the chance! We can throw double the parties and there’ll be games and-”

Lucy leaned against one of the back walls of the room, watching with a slight grin as Unikitty continued to hop around excitedly, spouting more and more of her grand vision. Batman stood not too far away as well, watching the scene before them with a hint of amusement but obviously making an attempt to seem fashionably disinterested.

“I think that’s a great idea!” the Queen gushed back, smoothly shifting her form to look more like a cat, joining into the chaotic bound Unikitty had set about the room.  “We’ll build it, bigger and better than ever!”

“Yay!”

“First thing’s first – where do we start?”

Unikitty’s excitement wavered for the briefest of moments before she skidded to a stop and turned back towards Watevra, stomping a paw resolvedly onto the tiled floor below. “The bottom of the ocean.”

Watevra halted too, shifting back to a blob. She raised a curious eyebrow, looking over Unikitty’s now determined face for any hint of a joke. Unfortunately, there was none. Still, the hybrid emitted such an aura of want that brought the Queen to seriously consider the options at hand. “Hmm…” she mused, raising a pensive hand to her chin before calling over to Batman with a grin, “Hey, Honey! That sounds like an adventure - that’s right up your alley, right?”

Batman jumped, startled, not wholly expecting to be dragged into this conversation so early. “Uh, uh – yeah! Totally! Sounds like a super dangerous adventure only the _greatest_ of heroes can take on.” He flauntingly made his way over to his wife, flipping his cape dramatically. “So, what exactly am I doing? I stopped listening about fifteen synonyms for ‘great’ ago.”

Rolling her eyes, Lucy softly snickered. This hadn’t been the first time Unikitty had suggested that they try to rebuild Cloud Cuckoo Land, though each time prior had been when they were in a considerably worse situation. While they knew the Duplos were no longer a problem – and much less of an enemy – to worry about, Cloud Cuckoo Land would have undoubtedly been such a shining beacon to them that any efforts to its reconstruction would have been wasted. And even if they could divert enough attention to rebuilding, the remains did in fact lie at the bottom of the sea – getting there a daunting task all on its own. New bricks could easily have been gathered from other sets elsewhere in the world but Unikitty always insisted on sticking to the originals.

However, there was another more recent threat that concerned Lucy – one that had shown itself to be a problem back near the beginning of when most of Bricksburg had first moved to Apocalypsburg.

“Oh yeah,” she said in a tauntingly singsong manner, “Batman would be the perfect guy to take along in case you ran into any Scavs. Who knows what kind of dangerous situation you’d get into if you crossed too many of them?”

Batman’s face fell, having given into Lucy’s mocking tone. “Psh, yeah right. As if anything scares me,” he quipped, smoothly flexing as if to prove a point. “But even then, _hypothetically_ , if someone had no idea what you were talking about, how would you word it so that I can tell them how awesome I am for not being scared of it.”

The two exchanged prolonged glares, seeing who would give in first, but upon noticing Watevra’s still confused expression, Lucy sighed, uncrossing her arms. _You win this round Batman._ Taking strides towards the trio, “Scavengers,” she stated, emphasizing the word. “We had a few splinter groups back when we were first moving over to Apocalypsburg. Some people didn’t like how we thought we had to regulate ourselves, especially so soon after rebelling against the rules President Business had set up in the first place. They took off into the wastelands, presumably to do things their own way.”

“So, what makes ‘em dangerous?” Watevera now looked more apprehensive regarding the situation, eyes narrowing. She slid over to a broad window of the court, pensively staring out over the stars.

“They haven’t gotten the memo that you guys are cool yet.”

“Huh.”

“I guess if anything they’re still stuck on the idea that anyone who isn’t on their side is going to take away their freedom...or – something grim and stupid like that. The worst part is that some of the Master Builders took off with them as well – they’ve been picking through leftover pieces from the other realms ever since they’ve split, attempting to give their own groups an upper edge.”

“The point is-“ Lucy continued, gesturing over the four of them in the center of the room, “is that we have no idea how they’ll react if we happen to cross paths, but whatever they do I don’t think they’ll be too happy to see us.”

Batman let out a hoarse laugh. “I’m, like, way cooler than any of them could ever hope to be – I’d love to see them try to beat me at anything.” He threw several fast jabs into the air, boxing with an invisible foe, as if to prove a point. He turned to the Queen with a smug grin, arms outstretched “Whatevs, you can definitely trust me on this one. I’ll keep these guys together in one piece _and_ look like a badas-“ he was suddenly cut off by the Queen tackling him in a smothering hug.

“Nope! Nnnoope! We’re keepin’ it PG around here!”

The two of them broke down into giggles. It must have been contagious as Unikitty and a few of the surrounding Royal Guards joined in with laughs of their own, basking in the lighthearted moment.

The pink princess then sidled up to Lucy, leaning into her side as a makeshift hug. “Oh Wyldstyle, do you think we can really make this work?”

“Of course,” Lucy answered. “We’re probably the best people for the job, after all.”

Unikitty’s smile grew even bigger as she began to excitedly pace in place. “I can’t believe it… after all this time!”

“First we’ll have to find out how we wanna start-” Lucy paused, weighing the options at hand. After a moment, she pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, scrolling through a list of contacts and selecting one. A ring was all it took before the person on the other end answered - “Hey Mayhem, did you have any plans later?”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Benny practically vibrated in his seat behind the controls of his newest spaceship. One that his friends asked him to build - so it was super special! And he made sure to build it _extra_ special for them too! Wyldstyle’s requests had been oddly specific - she had asked if the ship could carry not only them, but a few handfuls of extra bricks? _And_ survive underwater? He wasn’t quite too keen on sacrificing the slim, fast designs he was so fond of for extra storage, and - while he wasn’t a submarine expert - when Lucy explained the ship could still be a spaceship (just underwater), he jumped on the opportunity to flex his Master Building skills.

The spacesub itself was currently parked on the deck of Metalbeard’s largest galleon. A large, almost lens shaped vessel decked out in retro blues and greys - it was a bit out of his taste but still obviously made by him. They had met the pirate out on the sea after flying in from Benny’s station out in the Systar System. Currently, the rest of the party was engaged in conversation right outside, but Benny opted to remain at his seat- he couldn’t help being so _excited._ Below, Metalbeard’s crew, a colorful mixture of plantimals and other pirates, casually mulled around on deck, playing cards and decorating the few Duplo Aliens that Sweet Mayhem had brought along to begin the brick haul back.

“Benny.”

Afterall, it wasn’t every day that he got to use his specific skills to help out others, and it wasn’t every day that said others came to him first asking for said help!

“ _Benny.”_

And even if the situation at hand wasn’t _exactly_ what he imagined they’d need help with, he loved to see them happy - and that was definitely something he’d be glad to help out with.

“ **_Benny._ **”

The sharp rap of knuckles on the window of the cockpit brought Benny back to the now. He looked up and saw the faces of the others - Batman, Unikitty, Metalbeard, and General Mayhem - staring at him curiously behind Lucy’s figure who he recognized as the one currently trying to get his attention. He popped the glass window open, hinges creaking slightly as it raised.

“Hey, Wyldstyle, what’s up?”

“Metalbeard says we’re getting close to the drop point - you ready to test this thing out?” she asked, giving the outside of the craft a hearty pound with a fist.

“Of course! But uh… how exactly do we know we’re wherever we’re supposed to be?” He looked up and past his friends at the wide expanse of open ocean beyond. The boat rocked in the large, lulling waves, however beyond the wooden railings of the ship, there was nothing but the horizon and the occasional crest that broke against the twilight tinted sky.

The metal pirate grumbled something under his breath before stomping up to Benny - “Ye be doubtin’ my navigation?” sounding playfully offended. “I be the best pirate tae sail these waters an’ I’m sure t' be the one who knows them the best. An’ besides-” he continued, waving a large, shark-studded arm out towards the sea, “I can _smell_ it.”

“You can smell it.”

“Aye.”

Benny stared into the distance with furrowed brows before shrugging. _A pirate superpower_ , he supposed. The only thing _he_ could smell was Metalbeard’s overbearingly orange-scented breath and the sea beyond it.

Unikitty, having abandoned the meeting circle, now hung half over the railings, scanning the water below. “I can’t see anything! How far down does it go?”

“Below be the crossroads o' all ocean currents - ‘tis the deepest part o’ the region to boot. Several miles, aye’d suppose.”

For the first time this expedition, Unikitty looked slightly uneasy. Lucy gave one last nod to the spaceman before pushing her way over to the princess. She took a deep breath of the salty air before kneeling down beside and placing a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder, “Hey, don’t worry - we’ll see how this goes. If anything, we’ll just know what to change for next time - besides, there’s not a group of people I trust more to have my back.”

“Ha, it’s - it’s not that, Wyldstyle -” the princess began, “I think I was just remembering the last time we were out here like this.” Unikitty suddenly froze and looked up to meet Lucy’s eyes. “Oh! I didn’t mean...to-”

If there was a hint of any off-emotion, Lucy hid it well. “No worries,” she replied, a bit drier than before, but still coated by a sunny smile. Truthfully, she was thinking about it too. Three and a half years had eased a bit of the sting, but it was still a slight punch anytime someone brought up Emmet, especially with the way some of the former Apocalypsburg citizens did. “Let’s just hope we don’t need a couch this time, right?”

“Right.” Unikitty smiled with a slight waiver, glad to not have stepped on anything sensitive. She was glad to hear Lucy make at least that kind of small quip, as it held merit. Thankfully they had a bit more time to prepare _this_ sub over the last one they needed back when Bad Cop staged his attack that sent Cloud Cuckoo Land into the ocean in the first place.

“Ahoy! Princess! Wyldstyle! Looks like Benny’s ready t’ set sail!” called Metalbeard, leaning against Benny’s ship. Inside, the spaceman was already starting to visibly bounce from excitement again, window panel already closed. He yelled something inaudible from the inside and slammed his hand on a button on the console in front of him. He wildly gestured to a door, now opening on the side of the spacesub, urging those who were going to start boarding.

Lucy stood up offered a hand to Unikitty. “Guess it’s now or never, right?”

Unikitty nodded, graciously taking it. They made their way over to Benny’s craft across the creaky wooden deck, waving a goodbye to Metalbeard and his crew as the door rose and locked shut with a metallic thud. He’d be staying behind as a precaution, just in case something really _did_ go wrong.

Inside, Mayhem, helmet off, was looking curiously at the inner workings of the build. The Systarians didn’t have anything quite like the chaotic force the Master Builders were so it was still quite a novelty to her to inspect their creations. She was used to more… uniform, concise builds.

Upon their boarding, however, the General turned around to greet Lucy and Unikitty, face immediately brightening upon seeing her friends. “Hey, Lucy! Finally glad to get moving again, not sure if I quite like these, uh, kinds of ships. Too much rocking for my comfort.” Her eyes nervously shifted for a moment, looking to see if the overbearing Metalbeard just so happened to overhear. When there was no sign of impeding, barnacle-laden doom, she returned to a happier demeanor - finding a seat along the side of the craft near a window. Unikitty hopped up on the bench next to Mayhem who gladly accepted the company.

The spacesub was surprisingly spacious on the inside. It was dimly lit, illuminated only by small lights along the floor of the hold, getting brighter near the pilot’s seat, up near the narrow head of the ship where Benny was feverishly flipping switches in preparation for takeoff, occasionally slapping Batman’s hands away from some of the knobs. He cast a glance over his shoulder, looking for approval to which Lucy gave a ready thumbs up.

“Ready to fly!” shouted the spaceman, bubbling with excitement.

“Underwater, Benny.”

“Ready to fly! _Underwater_!”

That works, she guessed. Benny slammed a lever forward with an enthusiastic squeal. And with that, the ship lurched upwards, engines whirring against the bulk of the build. The wooden masts of the pirate ship began to move against the sunset outside the windows as the ship ascended. Metalbeard had turned heel to head back under the deck but some of his plantimal crewmates - ones that he had taken a particular liking to due to their fish-y characteristics - continued to watch as the spaceship-sub leveled out and began to take towards the water, wind tossing around their leaflike fins in its wake.

“Now or never,” Benny laughed a bit apprehensively. “But maybe, uh - grab your snorkels.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For the first recon mission they sure couldn’t see much, much less recon anything. And even though it was night outside above the water, they hadn’t expected it to have gotten so suffocatingly dark so quickly. Aside from the spotlights benny had installed on the exteriors of the sub and the luminescent feature lights, there was absolutely _nothing_ out there.

It had been a few hours at the most and Benny was _dying_ . Well… not actually dying, but he might as well have been. This was so **_slow_ ** _and_ **_agonizing_ ** _and he wanted to_ **_go faster why did he agree to this, this was torture._ ** The only thing stopping him from screaming and bursting out through the roof and back up to the open sky was how Unikitty had been excitedly talking _nonstop_ about her plans for the new ~and improved~ Cloud Cuckoo Land. That and the impending doom of everyone on board if he followed through but that was secondary.

On a side tangent, he was pleasantly pleased with how everything he had built had been holding together. Not a worrisome creak or groan in the hull. Yet. He slumped further in his chair, groaning loudly. He looked up towards the glowing green sonar over his armrest. _Still nothing._

 _That’s it, he’s gonna pout,_ he decides. So he rolled onto the floor.

Right next to Batman.

“Get your own floorspace, dweeb,” jabbed the superhero, also lying face down on the floor behind the captain’s chair.

“It’s my ship, I’ll have a fit if I want to.”

“Well it’s my adventure and I say get your own floorspace.”

“Knock it off you two.” Lucy halfheartedly throws a swim flipper in their direction. It nails Batman in the back and flops onto the floor, leaning against his head. She was admittedly bored too, but put on a convincing smile anytime Unikitty happened to look over in her direction, and at this point her face had begun to hurt. She’d started the expedition off inspecting the deep dive suits they’d taken along but one can only feign interest for so long. Fiddling with her jacket drawstring, she looked casually over at Mayhem who she was solidly convinced was asleep, helmet donned and hiding her face. _Lucky._

She knew that this would take a while, but even then, never really anticipated this. While their group may have been Master Builders, they weren’t ‘bend-the-laws-of-reality, miracle-worker-builders’. So she continued to wait.

And wait.

And…wait.

Andddd - Mayhem was suddenly at her side, jolting her out of the bored stupor she’d fallen victim to. Guess she wasn’t actually asleep. Lucy glanced up from her slump to see her friend was pressed up against the window, intensely focused on something. “Lucy - do you see that?”

“Huh?” Lucy rolled over, slightly shoving Mayhem to the side as she also pressed her face against the window. Squinting her eyes, she tried to spot something - _anything-_ in the darkness beyond. Nothing. “Yup. I see it too. I love seeing nothing.”

“No! Just -” Mayhem huffed in frustration, taking her helmet off and shoving it on Lucy’s head through her protests at the sudden action, “over there!” The General pointed off into the dark. Still there was nothing - that is, until the helmet’s pink overlay suddenly highlighted the tiniest speck of _something_ in the smothering dark.

She reached up to tap the helmet a few times. “How do I get it to zoom, this thing’s not zooming,” voice distorted into a deeper parody of itself.

“Enhance.”

The visor zoomed in, further bringing light to mysterious object. “Oh. I thought that only worked in movies.” The thing of interest was far off in the distance. From what Lucy could tell, it was glowing a dim, bioluminescent green, suspended in the depths. “Benny!” she called in an attempt to beckon the pilot over but when she turned to look in his direction he was already hovering over her shoulder eager for _anything_ to break the monotony. “Let’s, uh…” she trailed off, slightly unsettled by the spaceman’s now dinner plate sized pupils. “Let’s head that way,” she suggested jabbing a thumb out towards the direction, allowing Unikitty to replace her spot at the window and handing Mayhem her helmet back, striped hair falling messily out of its ponytail. Lucy followed Benny back to the front, where the window provided a wider view - not that it was all that useful at the moment.

It took about half an hour for anything to come of their path’s diversion. The speck they had seen in the distance had grown monumentally and upon approach, and it was clear that it wasn’t the only one. The area around them was dotted with glowing objects - plants upon further inspection, dotting the undersea horizon neon with cool blues, purples, and greens - all of them anchored on what looked like… bricks!

Across the ocean floor lay bricks, in various states of build - stacked together in one giant, chaotic amalgamation that towered below and even _above_ their view. It was as if every build, every set or piece that had _ever_ fallen victim to being lost or forgotten by The Man Upstairs had ended up in this one spot, haphazardly stuck together in its own kind of wonderland. Long tendrils of plant roots laid crisscrossed among the structure, glowing with an admittedly soothing bioluminescence that stretched as far as they could see throughout the depths.

Benny and Unikitty both simultaneously gasped with amazement as the spaceman slowly led the spacesub through the winding corridors of the makeshift canyons and peaks that made up the surrounding environment. Even Batman seemed to be impressed with the sight outside, eyes narrowed to see if he could make heads or tails of any of the half-builds scattered throughout the landscape. And that’s when they saw the first sign - the face of a giant smiling duck, halfway buried underneath what looked like a portion of a high-rise apartment wall.

“Guys, GUYS! This is it!” Unikitty shouted, hopping up and down, practically bouncing off the walls. “I know that face! I know that archway!” She sped down to the other end of the ship. “I know that duck! It’s all _here_!”

Lucy swore she almost saw the princess start to tear up. Honestly, she couldn’t blame her. They were so _close_ to her old home. “Alright gang, ready to get started?”

“More than ever!” yelled the hybrid, dashing off to the back of the ship.

“Hey! Diving suit! No one’s getting crushed by pressure today!” Lucy called, blinked a few times, still adjusting to the new charged atmosphere. She watched as Unikitty struggled to get the heavy, specially made suit on, struggling to get the neck hole past her horn. “Hey, Benny - try and find somewhere to park. I don’t think Unikitty’s going to wait much longer.”

“Park?”

“You know what I mean.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The world outside the sub was even more alien than they could have imagined. The bulky suits that the five of them wore felt more like ski gear than water suits, despite being specifically tailored for each of their figures (and tastes). Benny had elected to stay behind in the sub, just in case anything - or anyone - decided to pay it a visit. On each of their backs they wore a bag, containing gear that would possibly help in a fight, beacons that they would set up in order to mark places of high-importance for the Duplos back topside, and most importantly, snacks. Not that they really thought they’d be able to eat them or anything while actually out and about, but Unikitty had insisted.

Bright lights were attached to their helmets, and - while not really necessary because of the intensity of the luminescent plants covering the area - it provided a nice idea of what everyone was looking at. Their helmets, heavily modified with the same kind of surveying technology Mayhem quite often used on her own expeditions, provided constantly updated scans of the surfaces of the area around them, pointing out potential dangers and things they might have overlooked on their own. As it turned out, a lot of these structures were actually _hollow_ . It was going to be quite a few trips before they could even begin to get a solid idea of where anything was. 

And while the experience was novel, the group couldn’t shake a slightly foreboding sense that seemed to blanket them as much as the darkness did beyond the glow of the ruins. Every so often, deep sea life would come fluttering by through the waving plants and across their visors, small fish with long fins and crustaceans with too many legs. But beyond that, Lucy could have sworn she saw more moving out in the distance. She shivered and kept her guard high.

It was thirty minutes later when both Batman and Mayhem suddenly cut their lights. “Guys get down - quick!” barked the general as she dove into a crevice, followed suit by the others who also joined them in the shadows. 

“What is it?” Lucy asked. Suddenly a deep mechanical whir and a streak of bubbles shot by. The gang leaned in to get a better view as the mysterious object continued it’s trajectory, abruptly making a sharp turn up into the darkness and back down into a hole on the side of one of the mounds of bricks they had already passed. Two more flew past following the same trail and that was when they realized the mysterious objects were actually _people_ , decked out in suits of their own, pulled by machines that propelled them quickly through the water.

They sat in a tentative silence for moments more, apprehensively waiting to see if any others would pass by. When it was decided the coast was clear, they finally relaxed.

Batman turned to the group, “So, we’re like, following those guys, right?”

“The Scavs? They probably have a better idea of where the good stuff is. Probably not lost either,” shrugged Lucy.

“I’m not lost! I’m just itching to punch some bad guys.”

“We don’t know if they’re totally bad guys yet. And you’re totally lost, don’t lie.”

“Nuh-uh, I’m not lying. And they’re totally the bad guys, I can tell.”

“Sure.”

“Okay, even if I _was_ lying, I’d still think following those guys is a good idea.”

Lucy tried to find something to use in an argument, but Batman had already began to swim away. She sighed in defeat, looking over at Mayhem and Unikitty who both shrugged.

They kept their helmet lights dimmed and followed the still dissipating trail of bubbles the three mysterious strangers had left behind. By the time they had caught up to Batman, he was already disappearing into the hole they had swam into.

It wasn’t as cramped as Lucy would have thought, however it took them a decent amount of time to navigate through the winding crevice in the low light. Her most pressing concern was having other people potentially coming through on their tail and things getting ugly, however, that was quickly dashed as the end of their tunnel came into view as it widened and eventually opened up into a much larger cavern. The floor was littered with debris, broken pieces of bricks and pieces that seemed to dance under the refracted bright light that broke through the rippling surface water that hung above their heads. Mayhem was the first to breach the surface, stealthily scanning her surroundings before giving the all clear for the others to follow.

Unikitty immediately took off her helmet, taking a deep breath, glad to be free of the recycled air from inside the suit. She shoved it inside her bag before quickly running around the room, dipping and diving behind raised pieces of bricks and boulders, acting like a sneaky spy. She sidled up back to the group, tiptoeing with high steps. “All clear,” she said, matter-of-factly as her voice echoed in the cavern, much to the dismay of the others.

“Alright, let’s try and be quiet - who knows who or what else is down here,” Lucy said, nodding at her three companions, casting a prolonged glance at the princess who sheepishly smiled in return.

Batman snorted. “As if they’ll be a challenge for my awesome skills.” He finished taking his helmet off, the ears of his mask unfolding in a quick spring earning a few quick giggles to which he huffed at. “Anyways, let’s go.”

They made extra sure to be as quiet as possible, following the trail of water their targets of pursuit left behind, though the more they traveled into the structure the more they discovered a whole host of odd noises around them. At first it was just the resounding echoes of water droplets, dripping from the hollow’s ceiling and landing in deep puddles. Then it was the scuttling of the crabs that scurried into the glowing underbrush. _Then_ it was the distant sound waterfalls, pouring into unseen pools with a thunderous force. This place was its own world, and whether that’s a good thing was yet to be determined.

Sound seemed to travel in this place, urged on by the sharp angles and corners of the haphazardly stacked pieces. They passed segments of old Bricksburg skyscrapers and pieces of jungle temples, still covered in cryptic carvings. Occasionally they’d pass by large boulders comprised of bricks that looked right out of Benny’s aesthetic time period. _How long have things been piling up here?_ Lucy wondered, passing underneath what looked like a translucent green walkway, holding back a rushing torrent of water that sped off to other places within the hollow.

Unikitty was the first to place a beacon, stifling a squeal of glee as she bounded up and across a ledge over to an overhang, made up of a chaotic collage of rainbow bricks. She nestled the device in a corner as it unfolded, digging a three-pronged clasp into the ground below it. It illuminated into a dull neon green, blending in with the plants around it. The princess scuttled back down the outcrop, reuniting with her friends, quickly hopping up in down with excitement she couldn’t quite properly get out from how quiet they had to be. Lucy gave her a quick smile and a reassuring one-armed hug as they continued on their way.

Suddenly Mayhem stopped, causing Lucy to bump into her, followed by Unikitty. Batman was already too far ahead however he too stopped to turn around when he heard the ladder of “oof!”s that the pile up had caused. He squinted back in concern.

Mayhem was looking straight down. “Hey guys? So space is kinda, like, my thing, but-” she gestured to the damp ground, “I’m preeeeetty sure that’s not a fish or something, right?”

The three others crowded around, forming a circle around what appeared to be a large footprint. A _very_ large, three toed footprint.

Unikitty was the first to break the confused silence, looking up at the others with a raised eyebrow. “Is… that a _dinosaur_ footprint?”

Lucy chuckled nervously. “What, did we stumble into, some kind of ‘ _Journey to the Center of the Earth_ ’ situation?”

No one else laughed. They were too busy weighing their chances against a T-Rex.

“Well - the others and these footprints are all going in the same direction,” Batman said, shaking off any prehistoric unease. “No use in standing around like this.”

“Fair point,” replied Lucy. She reached up behind her ear, activating the communication line back to Benny. “Hey, you wouldn’t have happened to see anyone else out there yet, have you?”

There was a brief moment of silence before a reply came back through her earpiece. “Anyone else? Uh-” Benny paused, fuzzy static filling the gap, “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some other subs in the distance, but **_-krrzshhht-_** they haven’t noticed our ship yet. I don’t think at **_-bzz-_** least. Why?”

“We’ve been tailing a few people we’d seen earlier. Oh…uh, you wouldn’t have happened to see any dinosaurs either, have you?” 

“Wyldstyle, I think our connection might **-** **_kzzzzst-_ ** be a bit bad. Did you say _dinosaurs_?”

“Yeeeahh...? Or uh, really big lizards?”

Another pause, this time Lucy wasn’t sure if it was the connection at fault or Benny questioning his choices in friends, but he eventually replied. “I’ve seen **-** ** _kzzt_** **-** some weird looking fish, but no ...dinosaurs. I’ll keep an **-** ** _kshhhhht-_** eye out though.”

She disconnected the call, leading back into the ambient silence. Except that beyond the sound of echoing water drops and distant waterfalls, there was the distinct sound _more voices_ quickly approaching their location _._ The Master Builders looked at each other in alarm, leaping to the edges of the room looking for somewhere to hide. They dove out of the way just as two new people entered the room, in the middle of a heated conversation, directly where they had originally entered from. These newcomers wore their own dive suits, decked out in gloomy colors, obviously belonging to the same group of strangers as before.

“-and boss wanted the entire set by _next Monday!_ Can you believe it?” one huffed, not caring how much noise he was making. He slung a heavy looking pickaxe over his shoulder.

His companion kicked at a puddle, throwing up a wave of water that drenched the path in front of him. “What does he think we are, dogs? These schedules are ridiculous.”

“Seriously, and this is all for what, some waterlogged…” he trailed off, also stopping at the footprint. “Phil, you seein’ this?”

“Yeah, you don’t think it’s....”

The scavs shared a moment of apprehensive silence before their faces paled. “We gotta go tell boss.” They took off deeper into the tunnels, sprinting as fast as they could. “ **Boss!!** ”

Mayhem waited for a moment before finally quipping, “Well that’s not concerning.”

“Were they _scared?_ ” asked Lucy, brows creased heavily in worry. “This is their turf, what do they have to be scared of?”

Unikitty shared in her uneasiness, “Maybe they’re not used to seeing dinos?”

“Whatever the case, they were familiar with their target.” Batman had put on his serious face. _A nice change in tone,_ Lucy thought. “Now the question is if it’s something we need to be actively worried about ourselves.”

“How can we not be worried? It sent the home team running,” Lucy asked, sounding incredulous.

“I’m not saying that we _shouldn’t_ be worried, it’s just a matter of how much we should change up our approach.”

“Well we’ve been pretty careful already, I think we should be fine. Just get ready for a fight if we get unlucky.”

“Or lucky.” Batman cracked his knuckles. “I’d love to punch history in the face.”

“Yeah, you do that. Anyways, let’s keep going, no use sticking around for any longer than we have to.”

They nodded to each other in agreement and headed to the passage that the scavengers had fled down. The ground here was compacted, full of more footprints that overlapped and tread over each other from the constant use. Every so often they’d come across discarded tools - pickaxes, shovels, carts - that looked like they’d been tossed to the side without care. Large construction lights had been set up, their power cords snaking through the wet mud through which laid more dinosaur footprints, more heavy boot prints, but no signs of anyone else. Concerning, but not enough to get the gang to turn back. Smaller pathways diverged to the sides, but none had the fresh prints they were trailing. At this point, the sound of rushing water was overwhelming. The walls seeped with moisture and the vines of bioluminescent plants grew denser, across the sides of the tunnel and on the ceiling. Between their glow and the blinding LEDs, it was almost hard to see ahead, but a large exit to the tunnel loomed ahead from which the sounds of waterfalls echoed. But even over that was the distinct sound of a gruff voice barking orders.

The Master Builders hugged the walls of the tunnel, sidling up to the entrance. Luckily there was enough of an edge so that they could peek without being _too_ noticeable.

This new area was _massive_ , almost hard to believe it was located completely underwater. From the operation inside, it appeared to half be a natural formation from years upon years of bricks piling up on each other and half completely excavated, judging by how some of the walls and edges were clean, devoid of vines and mineral stains. The ceiling stretched _far_ above their heads, dome shaped and decorated with imposing stalactites that hung into low points. Below, the floor also rose into a dome, the center of the cavern rising higher than the outskirts, of which were partially flooded by the cascading waterfalls that poured out from the walls. Standing in the middle of the room, however, stood a person, shouting orders that echoed throughout the room. People frantically swarmed around him, hauling carts of bricks and materials out to other tunnels on the opposite side of the way.

“Quickly, _quickly!!_ We’ve gotta scram before we lose this haul. Don’t you remember what happened last time?! I don’t want any of you getting bit, insurance doesn’t cover raptor maulings! Get those bricks back on the ship!”

The former Apocalypsburgians squinted, leaning in forward to get a better look. “No way... “ they all said in unison, leaving Mayhem hopelessly confused.

Batman looked over at his companions. “Is that…?”

“Johnny Thunder?” finished Lucy while Unikitty looked on in concern.

Mayhem spoke up, “You guys know him?”

“Yeah. Haven’t seen him in years though - he was one of the Master Builders that took off instead of staying in Apocalypseburg.”

“So is this a good or a bad thing?”

“Not sure. He might not be too happy about seeing you, but we weren’t on too bad of terms the last time we spoke.”

“Why me?”

“May, no offence but you practically scream ‘Systarian’.”

Mayhem opened her mouth as if to say something in return but stopped and looked down at her white and pink dive suit. “It’s the hair isn’t it?”

“Definitely the hair,” Lucy laughed in reply with a quick wink, running a hand through her own pink and blue striped ponytail.

Moments passed before the builders decided to start slowly filter into the large cavern, stealthily moving behind boulders and debris along the outskirts of the room that gave them enough cover not to immediately be seen but enough leeway to look in on the action.

Johnny Thunder continued to pace around frantically on the top of the hill. He looked almost agitated, a nervous sweat glistening underneath his campaign hat. “Have _any_ of you seen Lizard Man? I know he got the call to head back, he should have been here by now.” The last stragglers of his scavenger crew were too busy rounding up what they could and running out of the cavern, a few shrugged back at their boss, but they too fled the room as quickly as they could. Johnny sighed, exasperated. “C’mon, man - we don’t have _time_ for this, we’ve got to-”

The man was suddenly interrupted as a terrified cry echoed through a tunnel passage off behind him. A green lizard - no, a man in a lizard costume - was running in a dead sprint towards Johnny, wheezing and panting. “Johnny it’s-” He too was cut off as a massive, blue raptor pounced on him from behind, pinning him to the ground. “It’s...Rex,” he croaked, face pressed into the muddy ground below by the creature’s foot, long talon glistening in the bright light.

“Haha! Johnny it’s been a while! I hope you weren’t just about to go.” The Master Builders watched with staunch anticipation as a third guy, decked in a dark blue dive suit of his own and flanked by two more raptors, strode into the room. He laughed, gruff and grating, topped with a smug smile that seemed colder than it should have.

“You’re just the guy I’ve been looking for.”

 


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a bit heated and the Master Builders are left with more questions than they started with.

Johnny Thunder shuddered under the shadow of Rex who was now standing imposingly above him. He’d tripped over his own feet as he scrambled backwards, now shuffling slowly over the muddy ground. A raptor had broken rank and flanked his backside, cutting off any potential to run away. There was no way out.  
  
So he sat, shivering, looking up at the man who blocked his escape.  
  
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Rex laughed crassly, nudging the raptor that stayed by his side.  
  
“We cleared out! Just like you asked last t-time!”

Lucy frowned. Something about the quaver in Johnny’s voice made Lucy’s stomach churn. Something about the rough edge in this new guy’s voice grated her nerves. Something about this _whole situation_ set her on edge. She inched towards the side of the outcrop she and her friends were hiding behind, attempting to get a better view. Mayhem sidled up beside her, staring with an intense curiosity at the newcomer. Their voices carried even over the roar of the waterfalls around the room, echoing throughout the cavern.    
  
“And I appreciate it,” Rex chided, drawing out the syllables in a sickeningly sweet way. “Gives us more time to talk _mano-a-mano_ .” He halfheartedly tossed a pair of finger guns towards Johnny with a grin before eventually sighing, shoulders slumped, realizing that the tension wouldn’t be so easily diffused. The bigger man picked up Johnny by the back of his collar, bringing him to his feet and swinging him around into a firm, one-armed grip in a single swift motion.  
  
“H-hey!” sputtered Lizard Man from across the room, still being restrained face down. Rex didn’t turn around. He simply raised a hand dismissively behind him and the raptor backed off. Lizard Man gasped for breath sitting up. He attempted to leap forward but the dinosaur’s sudden hot breath against the back of his neck kept him from moving any further. The costumed man swallowed heavily as a low rumble resonated from the creature’s chest.  
  
Johnny looked back in alarm but Rex snapped a few times in front of his head, prompting him to turn around. “He’ll be fine. Honestly, between you and me, it looks like Rocky kinda likes ‘em.”  
  
Rocky smiled. Or, smiled as much as a Velociraptor could. Somehow the rows of jagged teeth didn’t do much to ease Lizard Man or Johnny’s doubts.  
  
“Rex, no offense, but _what_ do you want?”  
  
“Can’t I catch up with an old friend?” he asked, reaching behind his back, fishing for something in a back pocket.  
  
“Friend, hah-” Johnny choked. Rex raised an eyebrow and the treasure hunter snapped his mouth shut.

“Ah, but enough of the small talk,” Rex continued, finally finding what he was looking for. He swung his free arm in front of the two, revealing a small black device on which he clicked a button on the side. There was a flash of green light and a holographic image leapt into existence - a single brick, rotating slowly. “Have you seen this brick?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“You’ve been down here longer than I have. Have. You seen. This brick?” Johnny felt the hand on his shoulder tighten its grip.

The explorer slowly looked over the image before him. It was a simple piece, actually - a tall, inverted, sloped brick no bigger than a typical 2x2x3. The Master Builders, too, started with a bemused sort of curiosity. All of this for something so common? “Rex, I uh - no. I don’t... _think_ so. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before, does it have a number?”

Rex sighed, puckering his lips in frustration and shook his head ‘no’. He let Johnny go, slapping his back in a tauntingly friendly manner causing him to stumble forward. “Welp, that’s all I needed.”  
  
“Wait, what? That’s _it_?”  
  
Rex scoffed. “What, kid, the water pressure gettin’ to you already?” He turned on his heel and started to make his way back to the same tunnel he had made his entrance from. Raising two fingers to his lips, he whistled - a sharp, echoing sound that carried swiftly past the hiding Master Builders and down the tunnel behind them. The raptors in the room looked at him expectantly, but only shuffled in place.  
  
Johnny stood up, dusting off his now muddied pants. “The last time you barged into our operations you stole half the bricks we’d mined _that month._ To show up now, raptors swinging, asking for a _single brick_?”  
  
“Mmmmm… yeah?”  
  
The adventurer stifled a frustrated cry before finally taking a step forward, yelling, “You’re a _Master Builder_ , for Pete’s Sake, Rex! Just go _make one_!”  
  
Lucy felt her heart sink. This guy was a Master Builder? She leaned in closer, _positive_ she’d never seen him before. And she _knew_ that she knew all of the Master Builders. They might’ve not all been friends, but with such a small handful of them out in the world (compared to the general populace, at least), it was a given that’d they’d all cross paths eventually - especially with how they grouped together back during Lord Business’ reign over the different realms. The blue and green color scheme of his getup didn’t ring any bells, nor did she find any familiarity in the crass mannerisms that Johnny begrudgingly endured.  
  
She was snapped out of her musing by a sharp laugh from Rex. Something about it set her on edge again. Mayhem must have also felt something off too as Lucy heard her quietly rustle through her bag, eventually fishing out and putting on her helmet. There was a faint beep from the General’s direction as she started to scan _something_. No one asked what she was up to, too busy processing their own thoughts as Rex’s demeanor shifted.  
  
The scruffy man now looked downright miffed, as if whatever Johnny had said had somehow been an insult. “That’s rich, honestly. You didn’t think so last time.” His words were cold, fed by a hard-to-place emotion he was being careful not to show. He turned around to face Johnny but started to pace to the side, never breaking eye contact. “You wanna know the difference between me and a Master Builder?” By this time, he had made his way over to a particularly large outcrop, sticking out of the ground near the side of the room, reaching out of the pooling water nearby. It was part of an old office building, the telling blacks and greens bringing back poor memories of Octan. Frowning, he looked it over before apparently finding what he wanted.  “ _Sure_ they can ‘make’ whatever they want...” he said, waving his hands dismissively.  
  
Rex turned away from Johnny, who was watching with a curious apprehension, before solidly striking the structure with a side of a closed fist. It shuddered before violently falling apart, the bricks clattering to the ground in a cascading wave. He bent down, picking up a few stray pieces of discarded bricks, fiddling with them until he was holding something that vaguely looked like a small airplane. He flicked a spinning propeller on its front and tossed it with a disinterested overhead lob,  “...but it never lasts.”

Two raptors took off chasing it as it drifted lazily around the room. Only the raptor looming over Lizard Man remained in place. And, as if to emphasize his point, one of the raptors leapt into the air, crushing the plane between its jaws. “It’s not a dig at them or anything, it’s just the way that their magic works. Fast and efficient, but short lived.”  
  
The raptor who had crunched the bricks trotted up to the duo and spat out the remains in a heap of saliva. The way it acted like an excited dog might’ve been cute had it not been for the rows of jagged, sharp teeth and decimated construction at its feet.  
  
“Me?” Rex continued, walking back to his original spot,  “I wanna build something that _lasts_ . Something that can get knocked around. And if that means having to sort through the realms one brick at a time for some structural integrity, then so be it.”  
  
Johnny didn’t say anything. It was quite obvious that he wanted to protest, say anything about how wrong Rex was - obvious because that was the exact feeling coursing through each of the Master Builders currently in hiding.  
  
“Y’know, Rex - that sounds a lot like someone who follows the instructions,” mused Johnny.  
  
“Perhaps.”

Lucy heard the shuffle of Batman’s cape as he slowly moved to crack his knuckles. Glancing back to try and dissuade him from acting decisively, she then noticed Unikitty peering around the other side of the boulder they hid behind. Her tail was tucked between her legs, ears back, but she wasn’t looking at the two men in the center of the room. Lucy made a move to sidle over in an attempt to check up on the princess but was caught off guard by a sharp tapping sound.

Above her, Mayhem rapped the side of her helmet a few times. “C’mon… _c’mon_!” she whispered frantically. “It never acts up like this, why now?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Display’s glitching, won’t give me a read on the dino guy,” replied Mayhem, voice low and deep from the helmet’s distortion.

“Guys…” Unikitty let out with a timid shake. Lucy turned around only to be greeted by a faceful of pink fur. She grabbed the hybrid, moving her trembling form out of the way, but before she could ask what was wrong she spotted the problem. Another two raptors had emerged from a passageway off to their left - and concerningly, one seemed to be looking their direction, sniffing the air questionably.  
  
It purred to its companion - a curious, low rumble that resonated through the air. Further out, the raptor that hadn’t caught the plane earlier looked up from it’s dejected pout and - upon seeing it’s friends - perked up and began to trot over.  
  
Great. Things were getting sticky.  
  
And that’s when they heard the sound of more heavy footfalls in the tunnels behind them.  
  
Sticky might’ve been an understatement.  
  
“What do we do?” whispered Unikitty, pressing herself up against Lucy’s side.  
  
Brow furrowed, Lucy looked up to Batman and Mayhem. “Guess you’re getting what you wanted, Bats.”

“ _Finally_ !” he let loose with a grin. He fanned a few Batarangs in his grip, readying his aim. Mayhem only nodded, expression unreadable behind her reflective mask.  
  
There was barely time to react as a flash of green emerged from the passage. Yellow eyes met her own, widening in confusion for only a split second before the creature was nailed in succession with the blunt sides of the Batarangs sending it careening to the damp ground with a piercing yelp.  
  
“Ace?!” Rex called out to the raptor, whirling around clearly startled. He saw the raptor on the ground and immediately grabbed Johnny by his bandana. Hissing with malice, he spat, “Thought you and your guys could pull some funny business, huh?”  
  
“Wh-what? No! That’s not -  
  
“Thought you’d get one over on me?”  
  
“All of my guys headed back to base, I swear!”  
  
“Rightttt…raptors! Go get ‘em.” Rex pushed Johnny back to the ground, watching expectantly in the direction of his dazed companion. “Let’s see your friends come for you when they’re done being chew toys.”

The Master Builders were surrounded - the velociraptor on the ground regaining its surroundings and the pack to the left splitting off to flank.

Six raptors and three Master Builder Scavs - piece of cake.

‘ _Now or never, I guess’_ thought Lucy, prying a nice sized brick off of their concealing outcrop and fixing it into a hammer. She and Batman both leapt in different directions while Mayhem soared straight into the air, brandishing her sticker gun, leaving Unikitty peeking behind their cover.  
  
Johnny watched the scene unraveling before him, thoroughly confused, before yelling out in a newfound conviction, “See?! I told you! Don’t act like you’re confused, I _knew_ all of you Apocalypsburgians were in cahoots!” He looked back towards Rex, ready to gloat in his revelation but was met with an unexpected sight.  
  
Rex’s clenched fists were shaking, eyes wide for a split second before narrowing dangerously. “I’m **_not_** with them.”

For the absolute _briefest_ of moments, Lucy could have sworn she saw the blue and green dive suit he wore shimmer with an almost glitch-like effect, but the luxury of wondering about it was lost as a raptor leapt at her, talons outstretched. A heavy thud rang out as Lucy’s hammer smacked into it’s side, sending it flying.

Mayhem had already managed to restrain two more with a barrage of stickers. They struggled fruitlessly against the sticky cocoon, mouths muzzled and limbs restrained. By this time, Batman had already lassoed the one he had first taken down and was imposingly making his way towards Johnny and Rex, reaching for another gadget from his utility belt. The raptor guarding Lizard Man rushed forward to stand by his friend’s side, growling warily and flexing his clawed hands, but was stopped by an outstretched arm, held aloft by Rex who hadn’t broken eye contact with the approaching hero. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“Just about to ask you the same question, _bud._ ”  
  
“ _Don’t_ -” the grimace devolved into a full out scowl, “call me _bud_ .” The two of them were an arm’s-length apart now. Rex jabbed an angry finger in Batman’s direction. “None of this concerns you - _any of you_ .”  
  
“It ‘concerned’ us when you sicced your overgrown lizards on us!” Lucy yelled, prodding off another raptor that now stood between her and a sticker-bound companion prone on the ground. The dinosaur reared forward, snatching the handle of Lucy’s weapon and splintering it with a snap of it’s jaws. It glared at her and growled to which she returned the same courtesy.  
  
Rex avoided looking in her direction. He simply rolled his shoulders and huffed, “Easy mistake, given that _literally_ the only other people down here have been Thunder’s guys!” His voice rose with each word as he failed to hold back the wellspring of anger bubbling up inside. The raptor behind him grumbled, a concerned inflection in it’s chuff as it nudged his arm. It looked back towards Lizard Man who had gotten up and had rushed over to Johnny’s side, but Rex’s still scathing glare had completely forgotten about them.

Mayhem landed next to Batman, kicking up mud as her boots impacted the ground. She held the blaster at the ready, just in case. “Call them off.”  
  
Rex looked at Mayhem. And then at the raptors. And then back to the other Master Builders.

And then at his chances.

He sighed.  
  
“Whatever, you guys aren’t worth my time.” He glanced back to the raptor at his side, “Rocky, get the others still out and head back to the ship.” The dinosaur grumbled something in a low tone but Rex only shook his head. ‘It’s fine.” He pushed Rocky away as it barked at his still standing companion over by Lucy, which then backed off with narrowed, yellow eyes.  
  
The two took off, back down the tunnel they had first come from, leaving an tense but awkward silence in the air, broken only by the torrential downpour of the waterfalls.  
  
“Let me get my other ones.”  
  
“No funny business,” answered Mayhem, standing taller.  
  
“Hah, yeah. Three versus one, I’ll be sure to pull my punches,” Rex responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He started to walk past Johnny and Lizard Man. “Why are you still here?” It was much less a question as it was a hint to get lost.

The two of them looked up at him, and then back to the others. Deciding against saying anything snarky, Johnny took Lizard Man’s outstretched hand and stood up. They turned heel and calmly walked to their exit tunnel, and, upon passing the threshold of the opening, broke into a dead sprint, their clattering footsteps echoing off the walls of the cave as they splashed through puddles and stumbled over discarded equipment.

“Dutch, you alright?” Rex called to the raptor that had been smacked by a hammer. It groaned and rolled over, shaking off the moisture and mud that had gathered on its scales. “Grab Indy and head back.” Dutch nodded in understanding, staring at Lucy apprehensively and inching away nervously as it made its way to a nearby stickered dinosaur on the ground.

At this point, Lucy wasn’t concerned with the raptors anymore, slightly ashamed that she ever was in the first place (though her better judgement told her they’d just gotten lucky with their ambush). She grabbed the splintered hammer handle and pointed the pointy end at Rex. “Who... are you?”  
  
“None of your business.”  
  
“Okay, Mr. Rex ‘ _None of your Business’_ ,” she accosted mockingly, already fed up, “what are you doing here?”  
  
He still didn’t look at her, “ _Also_ none of your business.”  
  
“Hey, no need to be such a grumpy pants, Mister,” came Unikitty’s voice as she scrambled to stand on top of the outcrop, sending loose pebbles clattering to the ground.  
  
Lucy watched as Rex flinched, raising his hands to rub his temples. “Four. _Four_ versus one. Great.” As he said that, she caught the faintest hint of another glitch...flicker? - shimmer across his arm? _What in the world?_  
  
Batman backpedaled to his side, “Versus sounds like you’re looking for a fight. I’d be happy to oblige, y’know, for a bad guy like you.”  
  
His prodding was only met with an indignant snort. “Doesn’t sound like I’m the one itching for a fight.” Rex bent down, picking up a sharp rock, making sure that he flashed Batman a good glance at it, before scooting over to one of his cocooned raptors and beginning to whittle away at the bindings. “I’ll be out of here soon, anyways. Then you can go back to Man-Upstairs-knows-whatever you’re doing down here.”  
  
He finished working on the first raptor. It scrambled up to its feet, glad to be able to move again. It shook, knocking loose a few remaining stickers that clung to its skin. A few glittery stars and rainbows remained behind, prompting a frown from Rex.  
  
“You totally didn’t argue when I said ‘bad guy,’ that means I’m right.”  
  
Rex stood up and huffed. “Hey, I saw a giant squid on my way here, maybe go knock heads with it.”  
  
“Why would I do that when I can knock your head right here?”  
  
“Because then you’ll fit in with all the other suckers.”  
  
“Neat, how long did it take you to come up with that one.”  
  
”Not as long as it would have taken to convince you that I’m not the ‘bad guy’.”

“Says the guy who tried to get freakin’ _dinosaurs_ to murder us.”  
  
“ _Again! Accident!”_

Batman and Rex were practically head to head at this point, unrelenting in either of their flurry of quickly devolving argument. Lucy had half a mind to step in, but paused when she saw Unikitty gracefully hop down from her perch and tip toe cautiously to the raptor still bound in Batman’s rope. Both it and the recently freed one eyed her apprehensively, but she only smiled widely in return, eyes sparkling as if nothing were wrong.

Lucy moved in to interfere but Mayhem grabbed her arm, apparently trusting the situation. _If this came back to bite them in the backside…_  
  
“Hey there, little guy,” the princess cooed, as if the raptor wasn’t at least double her size, “I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t eat my face.” It struggled against the wire as she drew closer but was quickly placated - though whether by Unikitty’s gentle smile or by the fact that it had resigned to its own glitter-filled doom was debatable.  
  
Ahead of them, Rex grabbed his already messy hair and pulled in frustration as Batman crossed his arms, the fabric of his suit squeaking from the damp air. “I really, _really_ don’t like you. And when I get this feeling, it usually means bad guy.”  
  
“Well the feeling’s mutual, kid!”  
  
“Kid?” Batman almost looked offended. “I’m pretty sure I’m older than you.”  
  
“ _And I’m pretty sure I’m done with you.”_ Rex shoved passed the hero, just in time to see the bindings fall slack and his raptor jump up to affectionately nuzzle Unikitty. “Hey, hey! No fraternizing with the enemy!”  
  
Lucy pulled away from Mayhem. “She’s trying to help! Would it kill you to say thanks?”  
  
“Probably.”  
  
She groaned, “What is your problem?” At this point, saying she was fed up would have been an understatement. Everything about this guy was like sandpaper to her.

“Me?” and for the first time Rex spun around to face Lucy. “I woke up this morning thinking today wouldn’t be awful, that I’d go about everything according to plan - but no, here I am, _surrounded_ by the only people in the world who could ruin it!”  
  
She had known he was angry before, that much was obvious, but it would be a lie to say she wasn’t taken aback by how absolutely _furious_ he looked. And behind the piercing green eyes that seemed to be trying to physically drill holes into her own, there was an air of resentment, lying over the purple, under-eye circles of restlessness.  
  
She found herself staring now, less in curiosity and more with irritation, with a scowl big enough to mirror his own. “Whatever,” Lucy said, opting out of giving this guy any more fuel to add to whatever personal fire he had going.  
  
Rex didn’t say anything else. Still vexed, he raised an arm and dragged the long sleeve over his cheek, attempting to wipe away the beads of sweat and condensation that had settled there over the course of this whole endeavor. Backing up, he cast one last look at Lucy. Something else flashed in his eyes as he stepped away, but she was too mad to sit on it. He passed Mayhem who had begun walking towards Lucy as well, but he remained stalwart, making an attempt to stand tall, and simply trudged ahead without giving her a second glance.  
  
“Let’s go,” he finally muttered at his raptors, the remaining four now free. They murmured between themselves but soon quickly took off in the direction their companions had disappeared to earlier.

Batman opened his mouth as if to say something but Rex haughtily interrupted, “If I see you again I’ll throw the first punch, then you can have that fight.” Surprisingly, this earned a smirk from the hero, who only ‘hmph’d’ smugly in response.  
  
He then passed by Unikitty, who was waving bye to her self-proclaimed raptor friend. She looked at Rex with an expectant smile, eyes glittering in the light. Sighing, he muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a begrudging ‘ _thank you,’_ but nothing more. Whatever it was, the princess turned back to her friends with a huge grin. She sprang up to all fours and skipped in place, humming happily while watching the departure.  
  
Mayhem reached Lucy, who was still frowning. “Hey,” she started, taking off her helmet.  
  
Lucy didn’t say anything, sour mood prevailing over the need to be courteous.  
  
“Alllright…” the general continued, a single brow raised in confusion. “No but really, when we meet back up with Benny I’m gonna need your help with something.” The Master Builder finally broke her glare when Rex’s departing figure disappeared from sight after rounding a corner further down the tunnel he had first come from. She turned to Mayhem only to be greeted with an expectant set up puppy eyes as the general knocked on the top of the helmet with a knuckle. “Either it’s broken or we’ve got a problem.”

“Problem?”

“We’ll see-” she broke off, hesitant to say any more. “Anyways, that was certainly… interesting.”  
  
“You can say awful, it’s fine. Because it was.”  
  
Batman hopped in as he bent down to pick up the discarded rope he’d used prior, coiling it around an open palm, “Wonder what beef he had. He sure looked pissed when we showed up.” He laughed deeply, “Ha, especially with you ‘Style. What’d you ever do to him?”  
  
Lucy turned and exasperatedly shrugged, “I’d _love_ to know myself. I’m not even convinced I’ve seen the guy before.” She kicked the ground in frustration before turning back to Batman and Unikitty. “You guys didn’t recognize him either, right? Thunder said he was a Master Builder but I can’t place him anywhere.”  
  
Batman shook his head no. “I think I’d remember someone like that. ”  
  
Unikitty, too, shook her head. “Maybe he just wasn’t always around? And yeah, I don’t remember any dinosaurs like that either,” she giggled, “the ones from Dino Island are all so rude.”  
  
“Rude?”  
  
“Yeah, these guys were pretty nice!”  
  
“Unikitty, they tried to kill us,” Lucy groaned, holding up the splintered handle of her hammer for emphasis.  
  
“I think we all just got off on the wrong foot.”

The three others just stared, not wanting to argue. There’d been enough of that recently.  
  
Mayhem stood by awkwardly, twirling her thumbs. “So- should we head back or…?”  
  
“Nah,” replied Lucy, “we’ve still got three more beacons to put down. I don’t want to have wasted this trip just because some jerk decided to crash the party.” She flashed a reassuring smile at Unikitty. “Let’s at least get a good ground to start reconstruction on.”  
  
“Yeah! So where to next?” Unikitty laughed excitedly.

Batman and Lucy both turned to each other at the same time, evidently with the same idea.  
  
“Let’s go have our own chat with Johnny.”


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master Builders' charm works wonders against Johnny and Lizard Man, while Rex mopes some more. Mayhem's hiding something.

It hadn’t been hard tailing Johnny. Past the discarded tools and wires that remained strewed throughout the bioluminescent underbrush and past the carts full to the brim with nicely sorted bricks, they found Johnny and Lizardman recounting their heroic tale of how the two of them single-handedly drove off the raptor intruders and saved their haul to some underlings.  
  
That lasted all of a second before they were both back to shifting nervously under the shadow of Mayhem’s blaster, trying - and failing - to hold a steady composure for their crew who eyed the Systarian and the Master Builders with apprehension. A single bead of sweat ran down the adventurer’s temple, sinking into his red bandana as the area finished clearing out of all mooks and hired hands.  
  
“What do you want?” he questioned, somewhat tentatively, testing to see how far he could distance his face from the end of the barrel without the General moving in closer. He palmed the rough handle of a shovel in his hand, more as a means of comfort than an actual tool, knowing it wouldn’t do much as he stared them down.  
  
Lucy chewed nonchalantly on a piece of gum she had fished out of her bag, arms crossed. She blew a bubble, the sharp _‘pop!_ ’as it reached its apex echoing around the small cavern they now stood in. Tents and even more carts surrounded them, circled around a pleasantly warm campfire that flickered in bright oranges and yellows. “Just about to ask you the same thing, bud.” _Pop._ She was still in a sour mood from earlier, and at this point, was entirely not ready to put up with more of the same kind of nonsense. The two continued glared at each other before she finally sighed, pushing up some of her now-frizzy bangs out of her face. “Look, we’re not here to cause problems - we just wanna talk.” Lizard Man opened his mouth as if to protest but she quickly cut him off, “So that means if you don’t pull anything, neither will we.”  
  
The Master Builder extended a gloved hand - a shaky peace offering. Lizard Man looked to Johnny, who hesitated, hand faltering mid reach before finally grabbing it with a halfhearted grip. “Fine,” he muttered sharply.

Tossing the shovel aside, he led the Master Builders through a maze of haphazardly set up strewn bits of habitation up to what they assumed was his own slice of the setup. Both he and Lizard Man disappeared inside, the flap leading inside being held open as the yellow slitted eyes of the reptile suit peered out.  
  
Lucy entered first and was greeted by a surprisingly simple setup of a humble lodging - a small desk in the corner, covered in maps and pens, two sleeping bags off to the side separated by a large storage trunk. The interior was dimly lit by a tiny lantern propped up next to a pillow, both resting on the ground. She stifled a chuckle, “Really committing to this shtick, are you?”  
  
“It’s kind of my thing. Like a brand, y’know? Couldn’t give it up even if I wanted to,” Johnny replied dryly. He strode a few steps in before taking his boots off and hopping clumsily onto a tarp laid out along the back half of the tent. He watched the rest of the Master Builders filter in as he grabbed the back of his desk chair, spinning it around, and propping himself up in it backwards, “Anyways, back to the question you never answered before, _what_ do you want?”

Unikitty hopped up before Lucy could respond, leaping into the air excitedly. “We’re rebuilding Cloud Cuckoo Land!” A particularly high bound almost sent the princess careening into a startled Lizard Man, already perching on the storage chest, but Mayhem deftly grabbed her out of the air, pinning the hybrid to her side. Unikitty still practically vibrated with excitement in the general’s arms even as the two scavenger bosses eyed the two over suspiciously.  
  
Regaining composure, patting off the wrinkled fabric of his suit, Lizard Man spoke up, “I’d ask something about the aliens taking off with your rebuild but it seems like you’ve already fallen in tight,” jerking his head towards Mayhem whose dive suit still practically screamed ‘Systarian’. The General stifled a snarky comeback, fearing that she might potentially shake the small truce Lucy had established prior, her friend’s words back in the Queen’s court resurfacing. ‘ _They don’t know we’re not enemies.’ Play it cool._  
  
“So what was it,” the costumed man continued, now smiling slyly with a pondering claw resting on his chin, “mind probes - no, no, no wait - _brainwashing._ I’m putting money on brainwashing, I mean, look at you guys, _haha_ !” He gestured broadly at the three Syspocalypstarians, any nervousness on his person replaced by an air of false bravado. “If it wasn’t brainwashing, maybe just a normal wash. Didn’t think your mask was actually white, Bats.”  
  
Batman shuffled his feet, kicking up mud while adjusting the tight cuffs of his white dive suit. “At least I changed my outfit. You look like a day hasn’t gone by since you left.”  
  
“Knock it off!” Lucy slapped Batman hard on the shoulder while casting a side glance at Lizard Man. “We are _not_ starting this again,” she huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Man, she needed a coffee. “Look,” she began again, “I get you guys probably don’t get the latest updates or whatever, but we ironed out our, uh… disagreements with the ‘aliens’,” emphasizing the last word with overly performed finger quotes.  
  
“Sure, like we’d believe that.”  
  
“Good news is you don’t have to. Focus on the here and now.” Lucy turned back to Johnny. He fidgeted apprehensively in his chair under her stare, twirling the end of his moustache between calloused fingertips. “Our turn - Unikitty already told you why we’re here. If you wanna help yourself by helping _us_ get out of here faster, could you point us towards some of the old Cuckoo Land pieces.”  
  
He squinted, “Ok so are you or are you _not_ with R-”  
  
“ ** _No._ **”

The room fell uncomfortably quiet - even Unikitty had stopped squirming under Mayhem’s grip to look at her friend, concerned. Everyone had been slightly taken aback by how forcibly the word had come out. She definitely hadn’t intended for it to be so harsh, but apparently her inner self thought it’d be a great idea to betray the collected facade she was attempting to uphold. “No,” Lucy repeated, much softer this time while relaxing the shoulders she hadn’t noticed she was holding tense, “-we’re not. I have no idea who he is or what he wants.”  
  
Johnny leaned back against the wooden edge of his desk, crossing his arms as his dark eyes looked her up and down, searching for any hint of deceit. Man, she _hated_ not knowing what he was thinking past that.  
  
Dreadfully tentative moments passed before he finally relented, grunting as he clumsily reached behind him and grabbed the frayed edges of a messily folded piece of paper, unceremoniously wedged under a coffee mug. Tossing it over, Lucy snatched it out of the air and unfolded it.  
“It’s not the best, but it’ll probably help you out a bit more than just wandering around blindly.”  
  
Unikitty wiggled out of Mayhem’s grasp as all the Master Builders crowded around the map Lucy had begun to unfold. It was crude, the once bright paper now aged with watermarks and coffee mug rings - lines of pen traced over itself in contours forming a large mass of bricks, interconnected with tunnels and layers. Scribbles of tiny icons, some with large red X’s crossing them out and others with happy faces nearby, littered the page. Lucy looked up back at the explorer in mild amusement.  
  
“What? Don’t act like your first drafts are the greatest.” He chuckled, only to be met with unanimous raised brows. “Ugh - critics, the lot of you. I’ll tell you what, y’all can keep that one - _if_ you keep away from the places with the smiley faces.”  
  
“What’re those?” Unikitty asked, ducking under the map to look up at Johnny, horn pointed up at a one of the doodles in question.  
  
“Nothing you’re probably looking for. The X’s are stuff we don’t want.” The icy looks on their faces immediately sent him backtracking as he sputtered, “I-I mean, I’m not calling them rejects or anything, it’s just stuff that doesn’t fit our style. Which means it’d probably fit _your_ style.”  
  
“Right…”  
  
“Ugh, believe me or not - it’s the best I can do given the short notice. I wouldn’t take it as is though, this is from a few months back. Things are bound to have changed by now.”  
  
Mayhem was the most intrigued, speaking up first, “Changed?”  
  
“The stuff down here doesn’t stay still for long,” he slouched forward, over the back of the chair, arms dangling in an almost defeated manner. “If it’s not us mining them, I guess whatever currents brought the bricks down here in the first place also toss them around a bit too - a peak that’s there one day’s dumped in a crevasse the next.” 

He was only met with stunned expressions. “Hah, yeah,” he decided to continue, just to give a chance for things to sink in. “Definitely confusing the first time we noticed it. Really took us by surprise when half the tunnel we were working on suddenly just _wasn’t there_ anymore.”  
  
“That’s…” Lucy trailed off, still trying to find the right words. “That’s _insane_ ! Why would you stay here for so long with that kind of danger literally hanging over your head?!” Her heart sank, impressive for them being so far below sea level already, nerves from the prior engagement with Rex replaced with that of cold dread. Of course they’d accounted for most of the dangers underwater - namely the pressure, drowning, deep sea abominations, etc. etc. - other things of that regard - but she’d be absolutely lying if the idea of how absolutely nerve wracking it was to consider how volatile the very environment itself could be. _Great_ .  
  
“High risk, high reward,” Batman answered for them, actually looking impressed. “I like it.”  
  
“Exactly!” Johnny said with a hearty boom, slapping the chair’s backrest, glad to finally have the superhero’s good favor - if only for the moment. “All the good stuff’s down here. The stuff that hasn’t already been taken by the Duplos, I mean.”  
  
“ _Again_ , that’s no longer a problem. You’re always welcome back to do whatever you want.”  
  
“Sure, sure - I’d love to take you up on that but I’d much rather not be doused in glue and covered in glitter- no offense to you guys, or you, Ms. Alien Lady,” he quipped, nodding his head towards Mayhem’s masked figure, still devoid of showing emotion , “but it’s not quite my aesthetic. Besides, my hair doesn’t do well in pastel - high school was certainly a phase I don’t want to revisit.”  
  
Lizard Man’s brows furrowed as he tried to form a mental image of what that might look like on his partner but snapped out of it when Johnny threw a pen that nailed him in the side of the face. It clattered to the ground and rolled to a stop at Unikitty’s paw. She gingerly picked it up and uncapped it, “So, Mr. Expert, any leads on where to start?” she chirped, serious face betrayed by the giggle in her voice.  
  
Johnny sat and pondered for a second, staring off into space, eyes following his mind into some distant memory. “Hey, Liz-” he began, a spark in his eyes suddenly flittering to life in bemusement, “I’m feelin’ a bit nostalgic, aren’t you?” He was only met with a confused look. “Oh, c’mon - point ‘em towards _the thing_ .” And in case his incredibly descriptive hint wasn’t enough, Johnny raised his fists to the side of his head, bending his pointer fingers up and down while winking.  
  
Whatever it was, Lizard Man finally got it when he let out a sudden, “Oh!” He sidled over to the Master Builders, shoving himself between Mayhem and Lucy, and pointed with an enthusiastic claw towards an offset area of the map, tapping it with a sort of childish excitement. “Don’t be mad if it’s not there anymore, but I think you guys might be wanna head here-ish first.”  
  
“What is it?” Lucy asked as Unikitty drew a big exclamation point to the point Lizard Man had pointed out.  
  
“I promise it’ll be better if you find out firsthand.”  
  
Batman snorted, “I swear if it’s some kind of giant fish-monster I’m hunting you down and feeding you to it.”  
  
Johnny and Lizard Man both laughed - not in a bad way, but an actual, honest laugh. “If it comes to that definitely let us know.“ The general air of unease still held fast but the scene itself welcomed a sense of familiarity among the old acquaintances.  
  
Another sharp _pop!_ from Lucy’s gum brought everyone back to the now, the damp air clinging a bit less cold in the deep cave. “Y’know, I guess I’m sorry for being so standoff-y. I figure some of the stories Aquaman and the other realm rebuilders told kinda got to my head.”  
  
“Ah, I guess they probably ran into some of the others. Conductor Charlie? He’ll tie you to the tracks if he thinks you’ll get in the way of him getting mats for his train.  Panda Guy? Absolute nightmare. For someone who looks like such a gentle animal he sure knows how to throw a mean right hook.” Johnny’s look became distant as he gingerly rubbed his jaw, reminiscing over some distant confrontation.  
  
Lizard Man turned on his perch, wringing his thumbs. “Man, you know panda’s aren’t all that nice in the wild, right? They’ll like… eat your face.”  
  
“Huh-”  
  
“Oh man, though - speaking of eating faces-” he was cut off by a sharp wheeze from Batman that was then promptly ignored, “-how’d you get out of it back there without a scratch? I mean, it looked like you had the situation handled after we split but, he’s not one to give up that easi-”  
  
“Pushovers,” Batman interrupted, with a smug smile. “You guys must’ve lost your edge because _wow_ I didn’t even break a sweat. Once the pressure was on that loser folded like paper.” He raised his arms above his head, back arching while stretching proudly.  
  
Johnny sat up in his seat, the legs scraping against the plastic tarp underneath. “You… didn’t fight at all?”  
  
“Seemed like he was actually in a hurry to get out,” Mayhem coughed, quickly.

Lucy paused. Something about the General’s voice was off - the statement came out too bluntly, too laden with an emotion that Lucy could only guess as something stuck between ‘anxious’ and ‘agitation’. If there were ever a time she wished she could see Mayhem’s face behind the guarded visor, it was now.  
  
The two Scavengers looked between themselves, confusion radiating off of their uneasy expressions. “Man, tell us your secrets,” Johnny groaned, leaning back again, “we’ve _never_ had a good run in with Rex before, let alone one that short. Honestly we thought he was gonna pull a fast one on you, he usually has a few dirty tricks up his sleeves.”

And as quickly as it left, Lucy’s sour mood was back, though significantly less tainted than before. Chalk it up to Johnny and Lizard Man being at least somewhat amiable. To be fair -she figured- there wasn’t a whole lot to talk about that wasn’t just catching up on what’s happened since they’d last seen each other (and even then, she wasn’t convinced that it wouldn’t be redirected to how the Scavengers underlyingly thought they’d been brainwashed.)

_Great._

Unikitty must have sensed her demeanor shift as the princess nudged her way under Lucy’s hand, gleaming up at her with a reassuring smile. She gave a quick scratch behind an ear before swallowing the lump in her throat, asking “So, what _exactly_ has he done before. I remember you saying something about stealing bricks - but that’s not all it, is it?”  
  
She heard Lizard Man let loose a quivering wince as he bent over, grabbing the hems of his suit’s legs. He pulled it up halfway over his calf where a gnarly, crescent shaped bite  that had barely healed over greeted them - the stark skin reflective in the soft glow of the lantern behind him. “The first time we’d met I guess we took too much of an antagonistic approach - I mean, a single guy barging in on our operations that we already had going for a few months? Of course we were gonna be a bit ballsy about it! But I guess you can see how well that went. And I got off _easy_ compared to some of our other guys.”  
  
“And it’s not just the raptors you’d have to be concerned about,” Johnny continued as Lizard Man fell back into a more comfortable spot, leaning against the side canvas of the tent letting the green fabric of his suit fall back down “-the guy fights about as well as any other Master Builder. Has a _nasty_ punch, too - not just in a tussle, but he’ll shatter just about anything you can throw at him - heck, if you ask me I’d bet that a lot of the rearranged topography around here is just as much from him throwing fists as it is the currents doing their thing. ‘Master Breaking’ he calls it, _ha!_ \- how pretentious is that.”

“And that’s just the _first_ time - after that? Still a lot of the same stuff but it’s like he enjoys it. Like it’s a game. Trust me, I’m not sure what changed his mind this time with you guys, but I’m sure that if he wanted a fight it wouldn’t have been pretty.”  
  
“But yeah - most we’ve gotten from any of this is that he’s planning something big. But we’ve put too much time and effort into gathering things down here to just admit defeat so quickly - we’ve got stuff we want to build too.”

Lucy stifled a groan that hung heavy in her chest. Things just kept getting better and better. A mountain-moving, hair-trigger temper, Scav Master Builder with some mysterious master plan.  
  
Batman’s knuckles cracked as he flexed his hands. He cast a proud smirk at Unikitty, leaning down over her low shoulder and whispered, “I was totally right. Bad Guyyy~” His sing-song mockery trailed off, any sign of acknowledgement lost upon his companions who were deep in their own winding thoughts. “ _Ugh_ .” He dragged a hand down his face in resignation.  
  
“Hey-” Lucy started, carefully folding the map back along the pre-existing creases. She finished tucking the paper back in her bag and looked up to meet Johnny’s soft expression, “Thanks.”  
  
He beamed happily in return, “Don’t mention it,” he laughed. “No. Seriously, don’t mention it.” He stood up, brandishing a playfully threatening fist at the Master Builders as they one by one began to filter out of the tent back outside, “I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”  
  
The group shared a quiet laugh as they emerged back out into the cool cave air. A few braver Scavs had returned to their lodgings during their boss’ meeting and immediately tensed upon seeing the group pass, however, they quickly relaxed - smiles easing any threat of potential worry. A few gave shy waves that Lucy returned in kind, the warm glow of the campfires flickering over their figures. She actually recognized a few in passing - old citizens of Bricksburg that had helped with the fight against President Business and the earlier Duplos. She also recognized the telltale signs of other bandages and knicks peeking from underneath shirt sleeves and collars, reminiscent of Lizard Man’s own run in with Rex’s raptors. Another flare of anger rose, burning red through to her cheeks, but a clenched fist was delicately lifted by Mayhem into one of her own hands and she immediately felt the fire dissipate.  
  
“Y’know, I still can’t really figure out what you’re thinking behind that visor,” Lucy laughed, looking up at Mayhem as they finally left behind the Scav encampment and emerged back into the tunnels.  
  
Mayhem remained quiet for a moment longer, only squeezing Lucy’s hand a bit tighter. “Let’s go make quick work of those other beacons, alright?”

“Uh… yeah - sure.” Somehow, Lucy felt more uneasy now than ever as she looked into her own reflection.

She hoped she didn’t look that nervous when talking to Johnny.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rocky paced between the dimly lit corridors of the small expedition cruiser they’d returned to after being ordered out of the caves by Rex. On a good day, they’d have joked about it being a “Rexpedition” ship but their boss wasn’t quite in the mood for jokes at the moment, especially if the trail of shattered walls and strewn pieces left behind by a particularly explosive outburst had anything to show for it. He felt terrible.  
  
Down the hall, silhouettes of dinos danced along the blue walls, growing larger before Bruce suddenly tore past Rocky in a blur of green scales and sparkles, followed in suit by a cackling stampede of other raptors, howling with laughter at the remaining stickers that held fast in places that he couldn’t quite reach without help.  
  
Their heavy footfalls and giggles rounded a corner and faded into the distance, leaving Rocky alone again in the soft ambient hum of the ship. He tapped his talons on the ground anxiously- a faint beat to one of his favorite songs that Rex often played when traveling through space - and much more recently throughout the depths of the sea on their latest mission.

Speaking of Rex - Rocky hadn’t actually seen heads or tails of him since they had boarded. It definitely didn’t help that he didn’t have a tail to see in the first place. The raptor groaned - a long, low huff that fell in tune with the humming ambiance - and set off down the hallway. In a few ways he definitely liked this ship better than the Rexcelsior. It was smaller and easier to navigate, easier to find things you wanted - a bit cramped, if anything. Though it didn’t have a skate park.

He missed the skate park.  
  
After a few minutes of wandering, he eventually found himself emerging from the hallway onto the upper balcony of the main bridge, the solid ground turning to a metal grate on which his claws clicked loudly. The large room was dark, cast dimly in a soft blue hue from the recessed lights along the walkways. Caught in the low light was a reflection on a large glass window of the room below - a stark contrast to the homely feel of the rest of the ship as the sharp lowlights projected an almost negative photo image against the backdrop of the dark sea outside. Amidst it all was a large holographic screen that blanketed the middle of the window, breaking the reflection with arrays of schematics and designs for various builds - ones that Rocky knew Rex had been working on extensively for the last few months. Bits and gadgets for their underwater excursion, jetpacks and blasters outfitted for raptors who put in specific requests, mecha sharks with knives for fins, you name it - they were all there.  
  
The images on screen shimmered and faded away, further plunging the room into a somewhat stifling dimness. A flash of green glinted off of the glass as Rex’s sharp glare met the raptor’s own.

Rocky stumbled, talons catching in the mesh of the metal balcony that sent it shaking with an almost deafening shudder. Rex didn’t flinch, only the outlines of his legs propped up on the control dashboard immediately visible behind the chair he sat in near the window. The raptor hesitated for a moment but was met with only more silence. _That’s…uncharacteristic_ , he ponders. The eyes below broke contact, trailing back to the display above as another image sprung to life.  
  
An error flashed alongside the new build on-screen, a single brick highlighted in a glaring red near the middle of the construct. Rocky waited with bated breath as Rex leaned over heavily onto an armrest, a gloved hand frustratedly slicking back his messy hair.  
  
The raptor let out a quiet whine and continued crossing the bridge. He wanted to do something to help the boss feel better, but _what_?

  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Rex listened as Rocky disappeared from the above balcony and sighed, sinking further into his chair. He’d have to do something for the raptors soon. He hated seeing him - or any of the raptors for the matter - sad.  
  
He hated that he even felt this way to begin with. He hated that it was because of him.

Even more, he hated that he didn’t actually feel any kind of hate towards his past friends. Sure he put on a convincing act, one that even _he_ _himself_ believed in the midst of things, but the more he sat and stewed the more he’d actually come to terms that he didn’t actually… hate them. He was definitely still mad, just not at them.

He stopped being mad at them months ago - back when he had seen the other Lucy take Emmet’s hand.

It was all just misplaced frustration, if anything.

But yes. He was still mad, but more at himself than anything else. Though he was definitely a bit miffed that they decided to show up in the middle of everything - especially when he was so close to being done with his latest build.

Actually that was a lie. Something deep down was still mad at them, but he still couldn’t bring himself to _hate_ them. As much as he wanted to see Batman again on friendly terms, he did want to uphold the promise of decking him the next time they met. And Lucy-

He sank even lower into the chair, almost to the point of lying parallel with the ceiling above, and closed his eyes, the shadow of the armrests blocking everything but his view to the display above. The display and his glaring failures. Johnny may as well have been right - what kind of Master Builder builds with bricks that don’t exist.

He ran a hand along his chin in frustration, the unkempt stubble catching the coarse fabric of his gloves. It wasn’t in any of the realms, as far as anyone knew. Six _months_ of searching - not in Technic Mecha Mine, not in Cape Space, not _anywhere_ . What a screw up. Honestly it might’ve been easier to just start from the beginning and redesign everything, even if the end goal was so prominent; so clear to see in his head.  
  
Man though, even for how cool everything was - both the air _and_ his rockin’ build aesthetic - it still felt like his skin was radiating far too much heat. Like a simmering summer day where no matter what you did, you could never get comfortable. He definitely knew his knuckles were a bit worse for the wear for how badly they burned underneath his gloves. At least Rex was grateful he had switched from his dive suit a while back, the sleeveless vest at least letting him press up against the cool plastic metal of the ship in this slump.

There had been countless hours of going over scenarios in his head, imagining what he’d do or what he’d say to the Master Builders when if they ever met up again. And here he was - again - going over them all compared to how it actually had all horribly, _horribly_ played out.

Some of them were casual conversations between friends, nothing more than pretending like nothing had changed - as if they were all still buddies hanging out at the coffee shop.

Others were more charged. Ones where Rex would start off swinging with a biting string of remarks towards them - ones that would hopefully cut deep with the same kind of betrayal he felt all those years ago on Undar - but those always inevitably up with some kind of breakdown, the tough exterior he spent so long crafting shattering as the more he yelled, the more he realized that he didn’t have a leg to stand on.  
  
But...he definitely did want to meet up again. Just when he knew he’d be someone something better. Someone they’d want to be around at least.  
  
‘ ** _They left you there for years. Why do you even want to go back to them?’_ ** _  
_ **_  
_ ** _‘_ _How were they supposed to know? It’s not every day people get thrown into a different_ _reality_ _star system.’_

Rex clenched his fists. He hated those thoughts. The ones that would show up uninvited, trying to get him riled up all over again. Most of the time they worked, but in times like this - where he was deliberately focusing on cooling off and remaining calm - he could brush them away with ease.  
  
‘ ** _She didn’t recognize us back there.’_ ** _  
_ ****_  
_ **_‘_** _It’s been years, I wouldn’t recognize her ‘Emmet’ in me either.’_  
_  
_**_‘_ _The other Lucy recognized you.’_**

He faltered for the slightest of moments. _‘Easy to do if you’d seen us side by side I guess.’_

Rex growled. He didn’t want to be compared to Emmet anymore.

That Emmet was so much better.

**_‘Batman called us a Bad G-’_ ** ****  
**  
** The thought was suddenly interrupted with something fuzzy landed on his face.

Whatever it was it bounced off the bridge of his nose as Rex’s eyes shot open. Above him loomed a shadow, outlined in soft blues. A puff of sticky, hot air brushed his bangs away as a trail of saliva from Rocky’s panting jaws laced its way onto his forehead. “Hey, hey! What’d I say about the fish breath in my face,” he shouted while pulling himself up and pushing the raptor’s enormous head playfully out of the way. Leaning on his elbow he looked behind, spotting a badly chewed up tennis ball resting against the back of the chair.  
  
Rocky continued panting, looking excitedly between Rex and the ball. The Raptor let out a hearty squawk, quickly stomping in place with excitement.  
  
“Sorry for the worry, bud - got thrown for a loop back there. We’ll finish up down here soon, and we won’t get one upped by those _jerks_ next time - not if _Rex Dangervest_ has anything to say about it” he laughed, raising himself up into a full stretch before reaching to grab the ball. Rex’s hand sunk into the sopping yellow fabric of the toy and his face immediately scrunched into a look of slight regret. But not actually. Because Rex Dangervest had tons of no regrets. _Man Upstairs_ it was gross - as most things viciously chewed on by raptors were after a while. “Actually... remind me to get you guys some new chew toys,” Rex joked, hiding a grimace with a lopsided smile as he held the squishy mess of a toy aloft above Rocky’s head before finally lobbing it down the hallway.

The raptor barked, taking off almost immediately, heavy footfalls and the squelch of the ball’s bounce fading to a distant crash somewhere else in the ship.

Oh boy.

Rex chuckled softly under his breath and turned back to face the schematics.

Nothing had changed. It’s not like he _expected_ anything to - the blemish of the error still blaringly evident as it flashed in bright red overhead. Reaching over to the control console, Rex smacked a button, admittedly a bit harder than necessary. The display above flickered and disappeared, the glass beyond revealing nothing but the reflection of the bridge inside. Standing immediately in front of him his own image stared back, tired eyes lined with a heaviness that seemed to spill down to the rest of his body. Ugh. Unbefitting of such a cool dude.

**_‘Focus on what’s important._ **’

Another crash rang from down the hallway and the sound of several raptors now  screeched at each other - less like their recent glitter filled shenanigans, more like an all out brawl was about to fight over claims to the tennis ball.  
  
_Oh boy._

_‘The raptors are important,’_ he retaliated. Stupid brain.  
_  
_ “Knock it off!” The Master Breaker yelled and turned heel, sprinting down the hallway towards the ruckus, “I don’t wanna have to clean up anything! If someone rips an arm off again I swear I’m gonna lose it!”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 To say Benny was ecstatic to see his friends again would have been an understatement. He currently floated above their heads, having forgotten gravity was a thing apparently, shouting about how glad he was to see everyone again. Below, Batman had fashioned his grappling hook into a makeshift lasso but was having a less than phenomenal time actually getting a good grasp on the Spaceman. Unikitty giggled as she bounded around amidst the chaos, bouncing up to mirror Benny’s sparkling eyes and down to mockingly imitate Batman’s grouchy grumbles that got more and more frustrated with each failed attempt to rope down Benny.  
  
And beyond Benny’s exasperated, “I’m never staying behind again!” and “I made friends with some fish using only the windshield wipers! _There was a real connection you guys!”_ was the silent absence of both Sweet Mayhem and Lucy. Only a trail of watery footprints leading away from the floodable airlock hinted at to where they may have disappeared to.  
  
Near the back of the ship, in a fairly hidden corner, Mayhem at quickly shuffled Lucy to a standstill without so much as a chance to relax.  
  
“ _May_ ? What the heck?” Lucy asked, concerned. It had seemed that the General had been almost hellbent on speeding up their excursion as time went on. While she didn’t say anything to give away what was eating away at her, she certainly was increasingly more and more evidently antsy with each remaining Duplo beacon Unikitty placed among the underwater brick hotspots. The Master Builder removed her diving helmet, colorful blue and pink hair spilling out from underneath in a fluffy mess.  
  
The General skidded to a halt and maneuvered Lucy into an open portion of the floor before taking a few steps back, still wet boots squishing against the metal floor. “It’s about earlier... I need you to help me test something. Just-” she trailed off, raising her hands as if framing a picture with her fingers, “-actually step to the left a little bit.”  
  
Lucy obliged.  
  
“Wait - no, _my_ left.”  
  
“Mayhem-”  
  
“Okay, okay just - staaaaaand still.” Mayhem raised a hand to the side of her helmet, and tapped one of the prongs decisively. The distinctive sound of one of her personality scans faintly echoed through the room.  
  
“Did- did you just _scan_ me?”  
  
Mayhem didn’t immediately answer, instead holding up a finger as if saying to wait a moment. “Yeah…”  
  
“You don’t sound very sure about that.”  
  
“No it’s… not that, it’s-” she paused again, “it’s the results I’m getting.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Lucy made her way over to Mayhem’s side, waving a hand in front of the reflective visor. No response.  
  
The General suddenly ripped her helmet off and shoved it haphazardly onto the Master Builder’s head. “ _Look._ I don’t know how else to explain it just - _look._ ”  
  
Lucy stumbled from the sudden forceful addition, taking a moment to readjust the helmet to a more comfortable position. The neon pink of the display was a slightly jarring - a complete change to the gloominess of Benny’s spacesub. Up on the screen her own confused face stared back - frozen in place with a bullet point list of traits along side it. _READY FOR A FIGHT, FIERCELY LOYAL, INDEPENDENT_ \- the list went on. “Right, so - as flattering as this is, what am I supposed to be looking for?”  
  
“Scroll back - person by person.”  
  
Lucy nodded, and flipped to the next assessment down. She was greeted with yet another static image of herself, this time from about three years back - past Lucy glared up at the visor with a suspicious demeanor. She shuddered, thinking back on that phase of her life. _EMOTIONALLY GUARDED, REFLEXIVELY DEFENSIVE, TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL, UNABLE TO SHOW VULNERABILITY._

The Master Builder opened her mouth as if to speak but Mayhem interrupted her abruptly, “ _Keep going._ ”

Sighing, she continued down the archive of scans, hoping to brush away the awkward feeling of seeing her own self in such a disheveled state.  
  
Up next was an image of Johnny Thunder. The explorer was propped up backwards in his chair, caught somewhere mid-sentence with an arm gesturing broadly into the air and mouth open. _FALSELY CONFIDENT, OVERLY GENEROUS, FAIRLY LONELY._

“I haven’t met him before, so it’s just that one. I just wanted to make sure the scans were working.”  
  
“Mhmm. Is this about…?” Lucy trailed off, soon answering her own question.  
  
A pink tinted image of Rex popped up on screen. The image didn’t seem to be as in focus as the others. A thin white outline seemed to emanate from the sides of his figure, making things seem sharp with contrast. He was busy glaring at Batman, whose blurry figure was off in the corner of the image, disdain in his expression clear.   _RAD WITH RAPTORS, TOUGH AS HECK, SECRETLY DUPLICITOUS, DOESN’T KNOW WHAT ‘DUPLICITOUS’ MEANS._

The frown that had slithered it’s way onto Lucy’s face apparently keyed Mayhem to where on the slides her friend was. “So, the one that I was concerned with is up next but…”  
  
Lucy flickered to the next picture. From this angle, she could tell this was back when they were hiding behind the outcrop - back when they were watching the small spat between Johnny and Rex. The thing that troubled the General was immediately evident - the white outline from the previous scan now seemed to completely engulf the scruffy man. Or - it more _overlapped_ his figure if anything, but a bit off center. Like as if there were someone else standing there that the lens couldn’t quite focus on.  
  
The assessment for Johnny remained the same as the previous, however the one next to Rex was garbled and glitched, fragments words that she couldn’t quite make out. C̡͘͞Ơ͜͞͞N̛͞T̨͟R͞O̷̕͟L҉͏L̵̸̨̕͟I҉͠͏N̶̛͟G̴,̴̡͢ ̷̶̸͠͡S͜͠E҉͢͠͠C̡͜R̕͝Ȩ̵̶͠͡T̸̨͠L̶̡Y͘͘ ̷͟͡D̵̨͢U͘͢͝P̶̢͞͡L̵I̵͘C̷̵̕͟͝I̵̢͜҉͡T҉̡͏Ơ͜U͘҉̶̢S҉͏,̷҉͜ ͏̸̶̵͏Ḑ͜E̷̕͠͝F͏̶I͢͝N̸̡͟͠I̢͢͝T͢҉̴̛E̵̢҉L̢͢͜Y̵̧̧̕ ̷̡̢K̷̢͡͞N̨҉O̸̢̕͢͡W̷̧̢Ş̛͟ ̧W̡҉͞҉͘H͢͡͡A͟͡͡T̷̵̕̕ ̵̕͘D͜U̢̢͢͢P̷͡l̡͘I҉̵͢͠͡C̸͢͡Į̵T̛̛͞I̵͘͏̨̛O̴̡̡͜U͡S̶̛̛͜ ͡͠M̴̷̨E̛͘͝͡Ą͢͞N҉͘͡S̛͢͢͞͞.̧͢

She swapped to the next image.  
  
The same thing greeted her again. A garbled mess of illegible text - most likely what had first prompted Mayhem to attempt another scan.  
  
“So - what does this mean?”  
  
“I’m not sure - I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Mayhem answered, albeit a bit quiet. “I thought something was wrong with my helmet so I kept testing it out - you were the only person I know that I’ve scanned before - aside from Batman and the others, but - I wanted confirmation on...something.”  
  
“You’re being cryptic, May.”  
  
“That’s not… the only thing-” Mayhem trailed off.  
  
Lucy looked up, straining her eyes past the display on screen. The General leaned away awkwardly, tapping her index fingers together nervously. The look on her face wasn’t reassuring.  
  
“Not the only thing?” Lucy asked, habitually swapping to the next image in line.

She froze.  
  
“Yeahhh-”  
  
_WEAK, NAIVE, SIMPLE, POWERLESS, LESS THAN SPECIAL._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry everything took so long! I haven't found that sweet time management schedule I'd like to stick to just quite yet so I've been terribly juggling work/ a comic/ and this fic!
> 
> I'd also like to apologize for any errors that I didn't catch on a proof read - I'm staying up late to push this out haha.
> 
> If you're sticking along after this, I just wanna say thanks! - Also, a big thanks for all the encouragement from both here and Tumblr! Y'all rock!


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